Multi-robot cluster additive manufacturing: review of pathways, enabling technologies, and construction-aware deployment

Additive manufacturing in construction (AMC) is transitioning from single-platform automation toward mobile, aerial, and heterogeneous multi-robot cluster construction (MRC). However, existing studies remain fragmented across construction robotics, digital fabrication, materials, sensing, and quality control, and the boundary between AMC-oriented MRC, robotic assembly, and AMC-adjacent systems remains unclear. This paper presents a systematic literature review of 145 studies, tracing the evolution of AMC across ground-based, aerial, and hybrid robotic systems. It synthesizes the conceptual foundations, evidence boundaries, typologies, coordination and control mechanisms, and enabling technologies of MRC, including perception, communication, task planning, material delivery, reinforcement integration, and QA/QC. To address current limitations in system integration and construction applicability, a construction-aware analytical framework is proposed to link robot coordination with material state, structural state, quality state, and feedback-based decision adjustment. Future priorities are identified to support construction-grade validation, human–robot safety, interoperability, cybersecurity, and digital trust.